Trek
by med11n
Summary: Joined by a less than ideal starter in a less than ideal situation, I finally get to start my long anticipated pokemon journey. However, I quickly learn that all of the studying I devoted my time to could never prepare me for the real world. (I do not own pokémon. Rated T for safety due to some swearing)
1. Energy

Growing up in Littleroot had changed a lot over the past ten to twelve years.

Ever since the Team Rocket fiasco in Kanto, other criminal organizations had been periodically sprouting up in other regions. First there was Team Magma here in Hoenn, Team Skull in Alola, and still others that I can't recall right now. The crime wave hit the pokemon world pretty hard.

Although each organization was thwarted by a dashing hero (or heroine) pulled straight out of a novel, the Elite Four and Champions of each region were concerned by how quickly, and easily, each group rose to power.

Such thoughts brought about sweeping changes for the training world as a whole. Ten year olds no longer received starter pokemon right away, as the governing bodies decided that kids (no matter how talented of trainers they were) were too impressionable, too easy to overpower. There was no more legal training age, instead you were required to have a high school diploma to apply for your trainer's license.

Radical changes to the culture didn't go down smoothly, of course. There were the traditionalists that argued in defense of the old ways, mainly centering around the fact that the crime rings were thwarted by young trainers. The governing bodies argued back that most of the ranks in said organizations were made up of young trainers. The two sides constantly clashed until the laws were slowly changed into what now shapes my world.

The changes seem to have worked, too. Although there were still the sporadic trouble-makers every once in a while, there were no more organized crime rings gaining power.

Although, that could be a side effect of the lower number of pokemon trainers running around as well.

Before Team Rocket, it was every kid's dream to become a pokemon trainer. Every ten year old from here to Fortree wanted their very own torchic or ralts. You could not walk to another town without coming across at least a dozen trainers. Now, fewer and fewer kids want to become pokemon trainers. They have their sights set on becoming the next doctor, police officer, or pokemon researcher like Professor Rowan.

Not me, though.

Ever since I could form coherent thoughts, I knew that I wanted to be a pokemon trainer, and not once did that determination falter. While other boys my age were chasing girls, playing sports, or working part time jobs, I was taking night classes to graduate sooner. While other kids were out partying and drinking, I was nose deep in Hoenn pokemon books. I even had dreams about perfecting my team, rotating different pokemon in and out of it to match my exact specifications. I wasn't going to be just any trainer; I was going to make a name for myself.

I was going to become the Champion.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Sweetie, come eat. Dinner's ready." That got my attention.

I looked up from my water pokemon behavioral book and wrinkled my nose in response, trying to smell what my mom was cooking that night. A slightly spicy blend wafted into my nostrils, forcing a grin to tug at my cheeks. Tacos. Mom always loved to spoil me with my favorites.

I closed my book, tossed it on the bed, and headed out of my room towards the kitchen, scent growing stronger as I got closer. My mouth watered as I walked into the kitchen to a flurry of activity, except there was only one person there.

"Mom!" I laughed as I leapt out of her way. She was a culinary artist. The kitchen was her studio, the stove her blank canvas, and she loved every minute of her craft.

Today she was expertly bouncing around from counter to counter, humming along to the old radio in the corner. "Go on dear, take a seat. I'll be over in a second," she spared me a quick kiss on the cheek then resumed her routine.

I wiped it off with a grin, and settled into my place at the dinner table, watching her go to work. Her brown hair was tied back in a haphazard ponytail, bouncing along as she bustled from countertop to countertop.

Within a few minutes, the dinner table was crowded with various taco shells, meats, toppings, and silverware. I laughed. "Mom, it's just two of us. How are we supposed to finish this feast?" Feast was simplifying it. This looked like one of those dinners set up in medieval times when the tables were over 20 feet long. We could eat until our stomachs exploded and not even make a dent in the food.

"Well, it's not every day your child gets a trainer's license."

I paused mid chew and eyed her warily. My mom approached me with a red and white parcel, packaged with black tape around the middle. She was beaming with pride.

"But, how?"

"What do you mean?" She looked perplexed.

"How do I have my trainer's license?" I haven't even gotten my diploma in the mail…" It was taking _forever_ to get here.

Her look of confusion broke into a huge grin. "Your diploma came weeks ago, honey. Sorry I didn't tell you! I filled out your trainer's application and mailed it the next day. You're licensed!"

"Oh my god, Mom!" I leapt out of my chair and threw myself at her, "thank you so much! I can't believe it!"

I took the package from her and tore into it, revealing a shiny laminated index card with my personal information on it. My trainer card. Other than my school yearbook photo used as identification, which earned my mother a glare shot in her direction, it was perfect, and everything I could've dreamed it would be.

I plopped back into the chair at the dinner table, admiring my new trainer's license. This was it. It finally happened for me. After years of sticking my nose in books and turning down a lifetime of memories, my dream has come true.

I was finally going to be a pokemon trainer.


	2. Trek

"Good morning, everybody! This is your captain speaking."

I groaned and turned over, pulling the covers over my head. _No such thing as a good morning._

"It is currently 7:42 in the morning here in sunny Kanto," the captain chirped, annoyingly cheery at such an hour. "If you look out to your left, you'll see the port of Vermillion City starting to wake up."

Rubbing my eyes, I looked out my cabin window to notice I was waking up along with the city. Vermillion City was a large, bustling city of blue collar workers, which seemed like an odd place to have a cruise port, but it looked to be a pretty enough coastline resort. I wearily pulled myself out of bed and lumbered off to the shower. I didn't want to wake up. I don't care if I was starting my long-anticipated pokemon journey today, I wanted to sleep.

To be fair, I really did want to get up and start. I had been waiting almost 18 years to do this. I just wasn't enthralled that I had to come all the way to Kanto to start out, with some professor I didn't even know. Growing up, I was always planning on getting a mudkip from Professor Rowan and starting my journey from my hometown of Mossdeep City. Rowan had other plans, however, and encouraged me to start with Professor Oak, a man he apparently idolized, and the man who pushed Rowan to become his own professor in Hoenn.

"A student like you, an ace trainer in waiting, you wouldn't be tapping your full potential with me! Professor Oak is the only one who deserves to have you as his pupil!" I huffed as I heard Rowan's words echoing in my head.

As a result of his persistence, I found myself on a cruise ship headed to Vermillion City, a port in Kanto, where one of Oak's assistants would be waiting to pick me up to start my journey. As enjoyable as this cruise was, I still wasn't overly excited about the thought of being alone in a foreign region.

After getting showered and throwing on my favorite outfit, I sat on the edge of my bed and watched the waves softly slap the side of the boat, thinking about what I wanted to do. I didn't know what pokemon I would choose. In Hoenn, I had planned on going with a mudkip, because I loved water and ground type pokemon, and they were the perfect mixture of both.

A slight bump interrupted my self-interrogation, followed by another ding over the loudspeaker. "Hello everybody! Thanks again for riding with us on the SS Anne. We have now docked in Vermillion City, so feel free to exit the ship at any time. Welcome to Kanto!"

I sighed and headed out into the ship's hall. No sense staying on this ship if I couldn't even go back to sleep.

As I weaved in and out of countless passengers and their respective pokemon and suitcases, I distracted myself with thoughts of my journey. I still obviously had no idea what pokemon I would be choosing, but regardless, any pokemon is better than no pokemon, right? And if this Professor Oak was half the researcher that Professor Rowan had built him up to be, he must have some amazing pokemon in his possession.

This journey may actually be pretty good, after all.

With my new attitude, I made it out of the lobby and onto the ship's deck. Bright summer sunshine and the crisp ocean breeze assaulted my senses as I made my way down the ramp and onto the cruise's dock below. I grinned. The sun and the ocean were two things I had long been enamored with. Growing up in Mossdeep, the beach was my backyard. I would play in the sand and the shallows, coming across all sorts of pokemon. As such, I had a weakness for water and ground type pokemon, symbolizing the ocean and the sand I grew so fond of.

I looked around, and saw hundreds of people and families were waiting with signs for their loved ones, and I couldn't help but snicker when I saw a young boy smothered by embarrassing motherly love.

My laugh soon faded when I realized that there wasn't anybody holding up a sign with my name.

"Excuse me?" I turned around to find the voice and saw a rather skinny man in a white lab coat and thick-rimmed glasses approaching me cautiously. He looked me up and down with a quizzical look on his face. "I'm sorry for bothering you, but, well… you see that… um… would you happen to be from Mossdeep City?" He asked hopefully.

"Yea, I would happen to be."

"Hi there!" A relieved smile broke over his face. "I sure am glad that I found you, the other three children I asked weren't exactly friendly... I'm Skyler, one of Professor Oak's assistants. I'm the one meeting you here and taking you back to Pallet Town."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Skyler."

"Just Skyler. And please, follow me!" He bounded away towards the heart of Vermillion City, looking impossibly happy, and I followed.

Vermillion City was a cool-looking city. Or so I figured, because I didn't get to pay much attention chasing after an apparent Pokelympic sprinter in the white lab coat. I growled under my breath as I tried to weave in and out of people shuffling through the city on their way to work. I didn't make it very far before smacking directly into an unsuspecting construction worker and his machoke. After another few minutes of fighting through crowds, I made it out and stopped to catch my breath outside of Vermillion's pokemon center.

"About time you caught up," A smug looking Skyler remarked as he strolled out of the center's doors, tossing a Pokeball in his hand.

"It's not my fault you're half-ninjask," I retorted.

He looked over me a few seconds, "Well, are you ready?"

"Obviously… Wait, ready for wh-"

I was cut off by a large orange dragon appearing in a flash of white light, and an accompanying stomach-dropping roar. I squeaked and hid behind Skyler, as several people stopped to stare.

Skyler laughed. "Sorry, I should've warned you. Meet Lissa, she's my dragonite." A few onlookers oohed and aahed and I think I even heard a camera shutter click. The giant orange dragon stood proud, as if she was enjoying the attention. She even spread her wings, which were almost too tiny for her mammoth –sized body, for additional effect.

"Th-that's ok. I'm good, really. Just a heads up would've been nice… "

I stepped out from behind the assistant and surveyed the glorious pokemon. "A dragon, huh?" Dragon pokemon were impossibly rare in Hoenn, were they just crawling around everywhere here?

"Yup, Lissa is a rare breed." He was beaming with pride as he approached his dragonite and stroked her snout. "You don't see many, if any, dragonites around here. They're almost legendary!"

I whistled. If Skyler's intention was to impress me, it was certainly working. "Now what?"

He turned to me expectantly. "Hm?"

"Now what?" I repeated. "Like… Why is she out?"

Skyler's grin got impossibly bigger. "Because," he started nonchalantly, "we're flying there."

* * *

Lissa landed heavily with a thud, and I threw myself onto the ground, still jittery. I shot Skyler a glare, "What the shit was THAT?!"

"I take it you're not too fond of the open sky?"

"No." I snapped back at him. "I'm perfectly happy down on the ground, thank you."

The scientist snickered, "Sorry, I probably should have told you, I'm a flying-type trainer."

"So you decided it would be fun to try to kill me?"

"Oh, no, not at all. Lissa caught you when you fell off didn't she?"

I growled, but Lissa growled back much louder, causing me to retreat quickly. She looked down smugly as she was recalled into her pokeball.

He waved his hand dismissively, "it's in the past now, come along, the professor is waiting for us."

"In the past my ass…" I grumbled as I trudged along behind him through the town.

Pallet Town, according to Skyler, was the home of Professor Oak, and the beginning point for new trainers in the Kanto region. It was an extremely quaint little place, with a handful of houses dotting either side of the main path. I didn't fail to notice a small beach on the south side of the town.

Next to the beach, however, was one of the most magnificent buildings I had ever seen. It stood at least 3 stories tall, and had a steep staircase leading up to a pair of towering, intimidating doors.

Skyler confidently strolled up the steps and knocked on one of the doors, and a few moments later it was answered by a taller, older man. He was clad a clean white lab coat, with graying hair, and a youthful glowing face with a few lines etched into his pale skin, no doubt from years of experience. He smiled warmly down at us. "Hello there, Skyler. Who's this?"

"Professor Oak, this is the child Professor Rowan called and told us about." I forced a smile. "He's here to start his pokemon journey."

"Oh…" the professor's voice trailed off.

He looked at me in confusion for a bit, studying me. After a few seconds, I shifted anxiously, and he cleared his throat.

"I'm terribly sorry for this, but I'm afraid I don't have any starter pokemon left."

My heart sank. I had built myself up, made myself ready and excited to get my first pokemon. I didn't even care if it was Kantonian, it was going to be MY pokemon. My very own. And now all of that was headed down the drain. I couldn't bring myself to do anything more than stare at him with a blank expression on my face. I wouldn't be getting my mudkip. In fact, I wouldn't even be getting a Kanto version of a mudkip.

Professor Oak must have noticed my kicked electrike look, and his expression softened. "Come inside, my dear boy. I may not have any starters left, but let's see what we can do for you."

I allowed myself to be ushered inside, still crestfallen, but a bit more optimistic.

Oak sat me down in a chair and settled down in his own across the desk from me, thinking. After a while in deep thought, he straightened up and looked at me. "So, tell me about yourself."

"Pardon?"

"Tell me about yourself," he repeated. "I don't have any bulbasaur, charmander, or squirtle left, but I do have some pokemon left over from my training days as well as some that were caught by previous trainers of mine. I want to find out about your personality and match you with a Pokemon that can complement your style."

I frowned. "Professor, no offense, but I don't want another person's pokemon."

"I see." He furrowed his brow, and tapped his chin thoughtfully. "In that case…" He stood up and started rummaging through the drawers in the filing cabinet behind him, murmuring to himself, then straightened up clutching a pokeball.

I felt a surge of excitement as he gently placed the red and white orb on the desk in front of me, then looked up at me expectantly.

"Is this mine?"

Oak nodded in response. "I got this pokemon from a breeder friend of mine as a gift last week. I haven't had any use for it around here and I'm afraid it's been cooped up in its ball for a few days now. It's yours if you want it."

I pressed the button on the middle of the ball, and a small white feline Pokemon with brown paws, whiskers, and a large yellow coin-like object on its forehead materialized in front of me. It looked up at me with big brown eyes.

" _Mew…"_

"That's a meowth. They're not the strongest fighters in the world but they are among the quickest and can be annoyingly hard to hit. This little one in particular was the fastest in its litter.

I looked over the small kitten as it sat on the professor's desk and observed its surroundings. Not exactly a mudkip, but I can see myself with a meowth in my party...

"Would you like to give it a name?" In response to my apparent blank face, he smiled and repeated his question. "A lot of trainers decide to give their pokemon names. After all, there are hundreds of meowths out there, but only one is yours."

I pondered for a bit, I did like the idea of nicknaming him, I just didn't know what. It had to be something great, something that really stuck if we're going on this long journey together…

Light bulb. "I got it! Trek."

"Trek?"

"Yes, Trek, as in a long, arduous journey. I think it fits it well." I beamed down at my new pokemon and watched the little cat as he sniffed me up and down. I didn't know what it smelled on me, but it must have been intriguing. Then, after covering every inch of my clothing with his nose, Trek walked directly off of the desk and crashed to the floor.

"Aww, Trek…" I suppressed a chuckle as I stooped over to pick it up and help it to its feet. Trek took a couple wobbly steps, and fell over again.

"Professor, what's wrong with it?"

Professor Oak laughed. "Why, it's only a baby. Kittens have trouble walking right away, so you'll have to be careful and patient with him."

I had to suppress a groan. Of course I ended up with a baby pokemon. I looked down at Trek, who gazed back up at me.

I couldn't help but smile. A long, arduous journey, indeed.


	3. Momentum

"Now, listen up."

I looked up from my meowth at the source of the demand, Professor Oak. I had been absent-mindedly petting Trek for the past few minutes and getting it used to my scent. Skyler had dismissed himself to run an errand, leaving me alone with the professor.

"I assume your journey will take you all across Kanto, to the various gyms, and then hopefully to the Pokemon League, correct?"

I nodded. "The ultimate goal is to be the Champion, professor."

Professor Oak smirked. "Then you'll be meeting and befriending a bunch of pokemon. I want you to do me a favor." I couldn't help but notice it was more of a request than a question.

I stroked Trek's belly as Professor Oak rummaged around in his desk drawers. He straightened up in his chair, clutching a red metallic device. I curiously accepted it and started looking it over.

"This is my greatest invention, the Pokedex! I assume you're familiar with them?" He asked.

I hesitated, and then nodded slowly. "I've never held one, but I've heard all about them and what they do."

The professor reached over and flipped open the cover. "That Pokedex is a high tech encyclopedia that records all information about each pokemon that you encounter. It is my dream to fill it up completely, and I was hoping we could strike a bargain."

"A bargain?" I asked, eyebrow cocked.

"Indeed," he continued. "I want you to take this Pokedex on your journey and fill it up for me. There are 150 different species of pokemon here in Kanto, and as a researcher I would love nothing more than to have information on all of them. In turn, by using this Pokedex, it'll give you information about other pokemon you encounter, including their age, gender, and what moves they can use. If utilized correctly, it could grant you a competitive advantage."

I whistled. "Of course, professor. I don't see why I couldn't." I pointed it at Trek, eager to try it out.

 **Meowth, the scratch cat pokemon. Adores round objects. At night, it wanders the streets to look for dropped loose change. This pokemon is male, about 2 weeks old, with the ability Technician. Its moves are scratch, growl, and hypnosis.**

I laughed. "A mewoth! Hypnosis!" On cue, Trek stood up, staring at Professor Oak intently.

Oak squealed and turned away. "Make him stop, please!"

I quickly covered Trek's eyes to stop him from putting the professor to sleep. "Sorry! I mean, it's just kind of ridiculous, right? Meowths aren't psychic. How would he know hypnosis?"

"Hmm, I'm not sure to be honest." Oak rubbed his chin. "He WAS from a breeder friend of mine, maybe the parents passed down a move to him? I'm not sure how breeding works, exactly, but I know pokemon can be born with special moves, based on who the parents were."

"Eh, it's whatever," I said with a grin. "Just means Trek is different from the crowd!"

Trek whipped his head around as I picked him up and held him up high. "Hear that, buddy? You're special!" He meowed weakly in response; I guess he wasn't all that big on heights.

I heard the laboratory doors open as Skyler returned from outside. "Ah Skyler, could you please test this young man? I want to see if Professor Rowan really knows what he's doing over there."

The assistant strode over and I paled as I readied myself for another appearance of Lissa, the terrifying semi-legendary dragon. My eyes gleamed as he unclipped a different Pokeball from his belt, confidence returning.

"Alright, nerd, let's see what you've got!"

"Nerd?" Skyler retorted with a smirk. "Alright then, don't expect me to take it easy on you now. You're up, Dalt!" He tossed his pokeball out in front of him and with a burst of light a small brown bird with a sharp beak appeared, eyes fixated on the feline lazily grooming itself.

I pulled out my Pokedex for some information. **Spearow, the tiny bird pokemon. Eats bugs in grassy areas. It has to flap its short wings at high speeds to stay airborne. This pokemon is male, 3 years old, with the ability Keen Eye. It knows the moves peck, leer, and aerial ace.**

"Alright Trek, our first test! Let's get this battle started!"

Trek did no such thing. Instead, he bowed up with his hair on end, and started bouncing around like a maniac and attempting to get the Spearow to play with him. It took a solid minute of me chasing him around before he calmed down and sat in front of me obediently. By then, the assistant was beside himself with laughter.

"You're talking really big for a kid who can't even control his pokemon! My spearow and I will see if you're up to scratch."

The two Pokemon stared each other down, waiting on an order. I waited with bated breath until I grew impatient. "Trek, scratch!"

The feline leapt at the spearow at astonishing speed and raked its claws across its face in one swift motion.

Skyler gasped. "Dalt, fly up!"

The tiny bird, enraged by the attack, flew up into the air, out of range of Trek's claws. It cawed angrily at the Meowth, who was once again bowed up and bouncing around like a madman.

"I'll admit, your meowth is a hell of a lot faster than an average cat, which is still fast in the pokemon world. But now your element of surprise is gone! Dalt, leer! Then get in there and use peck!"

Spearow stopped mid-flight and faced Trek, glaring at him and catching him off guard. As soon as he sensed his opening, he swooped down beak first.

"Trek, dodge it!" He did just that, easily jumping out of the way as the spearow went airborne again.

Skyler growled. "Aerial ace!"

The spearow swooped down again, making a beeline for the small feline Pokemon. Trek easily jumped out of the way again, but as he turned around to find where Dalt went, he was met with a swift hit across hit body, sending him sprawling.

"Trek!"

The scientist laughed. "You should've known about aerial ace, seeing as Winona mastered it! You can't dodge it! Aerial ace again!"

I flinched. Spearow cawed in response and dove towards the wounded cat again, readying for another heavy blow. I panicked, unable to process what was going on. Before I could respond, his spearow had already landed a sharp hit on Trek, knocking him down, making him meow unhappily.

"Trek, scratch it again!" He leapt up at the bird, but Spearow just flew higher and easily avoided his claws.

Skyler laughed triumphantly. "Last one, Dalt. Aerial ace!"

"Hypnosis!"

"WHAT?" Skyler tried to react but it was too late. The spearow had swooped down and locked his eyes on his target, and Trek took that opportunity to make eye contact and bring the tiny bird under his spell. Dalt dozed off midflight and Trek casually side stepped as it crash landed on the laboratory floor.

"Alright, Trek!" I cheered and picked him up and nuzzled up to him, much to his annoyance. I turned towards the defeated Skyler. "I think that's enough. We would easily knock out your spearow before he woke up, so there's no reason for him to get more injured than he already is."

Dumbfounded, Skyler pulled out his Pokeball and returned his spearow. He looked me up and down. "Hypnosis?"

"Yeah…" I rubbed the back of my head. "Apparently he's really special."

I heard murmurs and muted clapping. Apparently, Skyler and I collected a small audience during our battle, with various aids and even the professor's grandson in attendance.

"Wonderful, just wonderful! You and meowth handled yourself like a real team!" Professor Oak was beaming with pride as he approached us. He bent down and pulled out a purple spray bottle, and sprayed the potion directly onto my meowth's wounds. Trek struggled and whined at first, but calmed down when the medicine started working.

"Thanks, professor, but it was all Trek really…"

He dismissed me with a wave of his hand. "No, no, it took both of you working together in harmony to win. Don't forget that. You two need each other. You can't fight pokemon with your fists, and Trek alone can't strategize to win. You are a TEAM."

"I guess so…" I beamed down at Trek, who was grooming his fur.

"Take these pokeballs, as well as a few potions for your journey. You won't be able to fill up the pages in your Pokedex without them!"

* * *

After saying my goodbyes and profuse thanks to Professor Oak, I set out into the Route 1 wilderness.

All of the momentum that I had gained while preparing for my journey evaporated soon after setting out. Trek had been pretty cute at first, but he wasn't overly interested in listening to me. That's not to say he was boring, but being a kitten he much preferred to bounce around and play in the tall grass. He never got excited for battles, which of course I was, and typically tried to play with the wild pokemon instead of battling them.

I learned a lot in that first week.

Immediately, I learned that Trek didn't much like being in his ball. I allowed him to walk next to me at the very beginning, but he was so shifty and quick I couldn't keep my eyes off him for more than a couple seconds at a time. I attempted to return him to his pokeball, only to fall victim to one of his scratch attacks.

Which led me to lesson two: don't wear shorts, even if they are comfortable and easy to wear. Not only would Trek go for whatever is closest (in short: my exposed legs), the temperature dipped low at night, chilling me to the bone.

Lastly, shoes were for comfort, not style. I hadn't even been out on Route 1 for more than a couple of hours when I began seriously contemplating lopping off my feet, just to save myself from undergoing any more pain.

I was also beginning to hate pidgeys. While Trek had no problem scratching and chasing any rattata that dared show its face around us, the pidgeys were a different story. They could fly, and learned soon that the taller thing (me) could do significantly less damage than that shorter thing (Trek). As such, they decided to attack me whenever I stumbled within earshot of their nests. Trek couldn't care less, since he thought we were playing with the birds anyway.

We had pitched a tent next to the route that first night, Trek flailing around like an idiot and biting my hair, while I was applying ointment to my various cuts and scratches.

I groaned and flopped backward onto my sleeping bad, glancing over at Trek. "Are you going to be this way forever?"

He yawned in response, and then after looking me up and down for a moment, spazzed out for no apparent reason and started biting at my hair again.

"Whatever," I huffed and rolled over, getting comfortable to fall asleep. So what if my pokemon didn't battle for me? I had pokeballs, I could just catch more. They would LOVE me, and we could get stronger together. That'll teach-

I yelped as Trek bit me in the head and swatted him away from my hair. He bounded away, looked around at his new surroundings, and rolled over, falling into a deep sleep almost instantly.

I smiled over at him. At least he was cute when he was unconscious.


End file.
